Mark Rothko in New Orleans was featured at the party launching the latest Cultural Vistas. The January event featured authors who wrote for the issue, donated drinks and snacks, a gourmet pasta truck outside, and a robust audience. Brian Boyles, Director of Public Relations & Programs, says LEH's six launch parties have proven to be "a cost effective public humanities program."

iTunes

Texas Originals is a radio series profiling people like librarian and collection builder Nettie Lee Benson. You can listen to it on KUHF and other Texas stations, and read it online and download it from iTunes. Many of the "originals" appear in the Texas social studies and language arts curricula.

Asking/Giving

The top left corner of the West Virginia Humanities Council's front webpage.

Quick & Easy Donations

Fifty of the 56 humanities councils have a donation link right up front on their websites, all but four of which appear on the initial screen with no need to scroll down. That's good. The Chronicle of Philanthropy notes the need for nonprofits to use mobile devices and to make it very quick and easy for donors to give. It will hold a webinar about fundraising apps on February 25.

Russ Wyland, Deputy Director of NEH's Research Division, says that, "We’re becoming much more systematic about reaching out to state councils, and we’re finding that their involvement improves the workshop and, perhaps in some small way, improves relations between DC and the states."

Welcome to Briann G. Greenfield, the new executive director of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. Briann comes to New Jersey from coordinating the public history program at Central Connecticut State University and serving on the board of CT Humanities.

Walter Isaacson: Franklin, Einstein, Jobs, and now the Jefferson Lecture on May 12. His topic is "The Intersection of the Humanities and the Sciences."

The Latino Experiencecharts NEH funding across four divisions. Fedstate's contribution is the New York Humanities Council's Unidos: A reading and discussion program for bilingual families.

Indiana Humanities hosts an INconversation with Mark Samels, executive producer of PBS' American Experience. American Experience includes "Freedom Riders" and the upcoming film "Freedom Summer" about the 1964 civil rights movement.